There ain't no home like the one you got
by wildcatinuzuka
Summary: After Sideswipe and the away team are stranded in the cold Arctic; the other Autobots learn a little more than they bargained for about the youngling that became a mech too early.
1. Chapter 1

Sideswipe limped along slowly, trying desperately to not get any of the other's attention. His leg struts, hydraulics and tensor ached like crazy and the cold was not helping his processors. He had also had ice in his chassis and in places where he didn't even know ice could go.

Or should for that matter.

But they had gotten Polarclaw in the end and that was all that mattered… well that and the need for heat and energon.

Sideswipe could last for a while without energon but he really doubted that the others could go without the stuff for more than two weeks at best. Slipstream and Jetstorm had even less time than that thanks to the fact that they were Minicons and Polarclaw was still unconscious so they had to ensure that he was fed too.

Yea… Sideswipe wasn't too optimistic about their situation at the moment.

The worst part was that he missed the junkyard and all the safety it provided. He was stuck with the most attentive-and slightly annoying-bots in the universe and had no place to go in case they got too close or if they found out his real age. Bumblebee, Strongarm, and Grimlock had tried to wrestle the truth out of him but he never told them.

Safer that way for all of the bots involved. Sideswipe included.

"Swipe… ideswipe… Sideswipe!"

Sideswipe jumped about ten histers in the air, ripped out of his thought process by the calling of his name. He looked at Windblade, unnerved by the concerned look in her optics, "Hey slick, are you ok? You've been lost in thoughts for a while now."

Sideswipe managed a weak smile with his mouthplates, knowing that he wasn't exactly convincing her that he was fine, "Yep, just wondering how poor ole Grim is going. Being stuck with Strongarm must be driving him up the wall by now."

Windblade relaxed slightly-appearing to buy the lie- and laughed, "Yea, Grimlock is probably going nuts with her trying to stop him from smashing things."

They shared a laugh, "By the way, Optimus Prime has found a cave for us to spend the night recharging," Windblade said after another laugh.

"Sweet!" Sideswipe cheered, moving as fast as he could without it being too painful. His pain receptors were bitching at him but he just wanted to get to the cave without revealing that he was in pain. Windblade walked beside him, her pedes crunching as they sank in the fluffy snow. They finally arrived at the cave and Sideswipe scrambled inside. It was surprisingly large and a fire was already going. Optimus was sitting by-and fussing over-Polarclaw and Slipstream and Jetstorm were huddled by the fire with Drift guarding them as they warmed up.

Sideswipe quickly claimed a spot halfway between the fire and Optimus, sliding down slowly to prevent his whole leg from stretching out too quickly in an attempt to prevent his pain receptors from bitching at him anymore than they already were.

Didn't stop them.

He chewed his mouthplates in a frantic attempt to stop the scream from escaping as the pain reached near intolerable levels. Sideswipe decided that recharge was a good idea; he didn't want to alert anyone to the pain that he was in after all.

He closed his optics and slipped into sweet _painless_ recharge.

/

Windblade watched as Sideswipe fell into recharge; whimpering whenever his left leg was jolted around. She was worried about him. He was clearly younger than even Drift's Minicons but he showed signs of having an older processor.

Only two types of bots had that; young warriors and street bots.

"How is he?" She turned towards Optimus Prime, noticing that he was looking at the Sideswipe too.

"He hasn't told me anything; I believe that he is in a great deal of pain but is unwilling to tell anybot."

Optimus looked worried but before he could say anything, a whimper filled the cave. Everybot turned to look at Sideswipe; startled at the pain-filled faceplates that graced the normally carefree faceplates. Drift moved when another whimper fell from Sideswipes mouthplates; he carefully scooped up the lithe bot and relocated him in front of the fire, laying Sideswipe on his right side and slowly stretching the left leg.

Optimus and Windblade watched as Drift continued with whatever he was doing to Sideswipe. Drift slowly pulled the leg all the way out, stopping if the thin bot whimpered or showed even a hint of pain. Slipstream and Jetstorm leapt in to help, Slipstream moving so that Sideswipes helm was on his lap; stroking his helm soothingly and Jetstorm was helping Drift with what could only be described as stretching exercises.

"Guys… what are you _doing_?" Windblade asked as they continued the exercises.

Slipstream looked at the other Autobots as he continued his soothing ministrations, "We are doing some simple stretching exercises in an attempt to relax the tensor, joints and hydraulics of Sideswipes left leg so he won't be in any pain in the morning."

Jetstorm nodded as he gently massaged Sideswipes knee, "Master Drift used to do it to us when we first started our training. Our joints would get sore because we were unused to the training and he would help us stretch them out so they wouldn't freeze on us the next day."

Drift smiled at his two apprentices and continued to work on the leg but all three froze when Sideswipe let out an incoherent mumble and a flinch. Everybot held their intake except Slipstream, who just kept on rubbing his helm until Sideswipe settled down. The sound of exhaling filled the cave as Drift and Jetstorm resumed their work.

Optimus quickly looked at Polarclaw, ensuring that the Decepticon was still unconscious before looking at the rest of team, "Everybot should get some recharge before tomorrow. I'll take the first watch."

Windblade dipped, "I'll take the second shift sir."

"And I'll take the third shift," Drift said with a smile.

Optimus nodded and turned back to the sleeping Sideswipe, "Sideswipe, Jetstorm and Slipstream won't be doing a shift tonight; they'll do it tomorrow."

The others nodded and Windblade settled down for the few hours of recharge she would get before her watch. Drift, Slipstream and Jetstorm continued their ministrations until they were sure that Sideswipe would have no pain in the morning. Drift settled down with his precious students and all three fell into blissful recharge, unaware of the hell their friend was going through in his processor.

 ** _Wildcat: Yet another starter fic bites the dust! I hope you enjoy!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Sideswipe waited off-stage for his cue. The collar that kept him here chafed against his protoform and he shivered at the thought of being auctioned off to please some elite mech or femme._**

 ** _He hated the lightweight protoform-hugging red armour that hugged his femme-like body in all the right places and the embellishments that gave him an exotic look. He hated his life and wished he could leave but his Creators had abandoned him in the back alleys of Iacon. He had been captured by slavers looking for a quick buck- and cube- and was sold to this high-end whore house._**

 ** _"Next-for your bidding pleasure- The exotic; the gorgeous Crimson Streak!" Sideswipe stepped out onto the stage; knowing that he would be forced to bed a stranger and forced to act like he liked it, "Which bot will give me three thousand credits?" The bidding got underway once a handsome red and orange mech raised his servos._**

 ** _The credits flowed like high-grade energon as the amount got higher and higher until it crossed the thirty-nine thousand credits line. Most bots than dropped the bid in an attempt to preserve but two continued on; the mech that started the bid and a blue-green mech that was smaller. Sideswipe was praying that the blue-green one won because he could handle the smaller one but the red one would tear him apart._**

 ** _He watched the amount; praying that the red one would drop but Life decided to be the glitch it was. The blue-green one dropped the bidding at ninety-nine thousand credits._**

 ** _"Going once, going twice, sold!" Sideswipes circuits felt like they were bathed in cold water, "Sold to number thirty-five! Pay the femme in the back and you can collect your prize for the night!" Sideswipe was led off and was dragged to the back; the red bot paying the femme in the booth. His leash was handed to the mech and the guard walked off, not looking at the small mechling he had just handed over._**

 ** _Sideswipe was dragged along by the chain to a secluded hallway. Moans, screams and cries of pain filled the hallway; a haunting and disturbing symphony that told of the tragic fate of the bots that were the property of the house. Sideswipe started to struggle against the tether but the mech was having none of it and struck Sideswipe on the left faceplate. The mech tossed Sideswipe into the first empty room that he came across. Sideswipe scrambled away from the beast of a bot but the mech just snatched the mechling and tossed Sideswipe onto the berth. Before Sideswipe could get orientated, he felt his codpiece being ripped away._**

 ** _"No! Please stop! You're too big!" Sideswipe pleaded as large servos' pinned him to the berth. The mech just gave him a look and leaned down to whisper in Sideswipe's audio receptors, "You're a big bot; you can handle it."_**

 ** _Sideswipe screamed._**

\\\\\\\

Sideswipe sat up with a gasp and a sick feeling in his tank that he was all too familiar with. He stumbled outside the cave and proceeded to empty his tank. Soon he was just dry-heaving but he just _couldn't stop_. Coolant leaked from his optics and he wanted nothing more than to take scalding hot water and scrub his protoform and body armour.

He didn't feel the servo rubbing his backstrut until he could no longer empty his tank. Sideswipe froze, not wanting anybot to see him in the state he was in. He dared to look up once he wiped his mouth plates and coolant covered cheeks; only to stare into the concerned optics of Drift. He could only be thankful it wasn't Windblade or Optimus. They would try to get him to talk and he didn't _want that_ right now. But the down side was that Drift might glare him into telling and Sideswipe wasn't looking forward to that either.

"Are you alright Sideswipe?" Drift asked, waiting for the smaller bot to answer. It looked like Sideswipe was going to not respond and Drift was about to repeat the question when Sideswipe turned and _smiled_ at him.

"Yea, I'm fine," He said with that utterly disarming grin that normally distracted other bots but Drift wasn't going to fall for it. He was going to let Sideswipe come to him when the mech was ready.

"You might want some more recharge; we leave in a few hours. Windblade has located a stasis pod we can place Polarclaw until we can collect him."

Sideswipe was grateful for the way out and he took it, "Yea," A yawn escapes his mouthplates and Drift finds that absolutely adorable, "I might as well get as much recharge as I can."

He turned to go back inside when Drift called after him, "The next time your leg is in any pain, just come to me."

Sideswipe had a spark attack when he heard that but he still managed a nod and he went inside.

\\\\\\\\\

They had managed to get to Windblade's cache in Upper Russia; which was fortunately only a three cycle's hike from the cave. It had some tools, some stasis pods and-more importantly- some energon. Sideswipe waited patiently for the energon to be passed out by Drift, praying the bigger mech had the common sense to pass the Minicons a cube and a half each. Those hopes were shot down when they had gotten only a cube each. Minicons needed that extra cube to store for later. Honestly, sparklings were the same way and Sideswipe knew that from _experience._

He waited until Drift wasn't looking and the Minicons had finished their cubes; then he passed them his cube with a false promise to eat later. Windblade would have locked the cache before he could go near it and he would be called a glutton if he had succeeded. So he never got another cube.

This pattern of starvation continued for another three caches before they arrived in Singapore. Optimus had heard that a shipping company was shipping parts to a base in Nevada and they had planned on getting in those shipping containers.

"Alright, so remember the plan. We get into a container each. Get out of them when we land but wait for night," Optimus said as they huddled behind a stack of giant containers. Everyone nodded but if Sideswipe was to be honest, he was having the hardest time focusing lately and everyone had noticed it. He wanted nothing more than to slip into recharge but he needed to focus for this to succeed.

The shipyard was thankfully abandoned so they rushed to four empty containers and climbed in, sealing the containers shut behind themselves.

: _Is everyone in? :_ Optimus commed once the containers were shut.

 _: Yes sir, I'm in and secure,:_ Windblade replied.

 _: My students and I are secured,:_ Drift reported

They waited for a minute for Sideswipe to report but Drift was getting worried. He knew that Sideswipe had been giving his cube to his two students and Drift was grateful to the mech but he had figured that he had been grabbing another cube from the cache.

What if he had been wrong?

 _: I made it to my container safely; just making sure the door is locked,:_ Sideswipe replied a minute later. Drift exhaled a sigh of relief. Maybe he over reacted a bit?

 _: Stay in the containers; maintain radio silence and see you in a few weeks,:_ Optimus said.

Sideswipe quickly turned off the comm and shifted into car mode and settled down. Recharge sounded wonderful right now. With the recent lack of focus that he had developed, he had nearly put everybot in danger plenty of times and somehow all without them knowing. A miracle in his processor but he was too tired to really comprehend that at the moment.

He closed his optics, set an alarm to wake him up in three weeks and fell into recharge.

 ** _Wildcat: Cliffhanger! But I own nothing!_**


	3. Chapter 3

Drift was worried.

So were Slipstream and Jetstorm.

Optimus and Windblade also were worried but they tried not to show it.

Sideswipe hadn't showed up yet and daybreak was fast approaching, they could see the sun from their hiding spot.

Windblade fiddled with her fans while Drift tinkered with his sword. Jetstorm and Slipstream quietly chatted while Optimus watched the containers; praying to Primus that he would see the young mech come over the rise.

"I'll try to comm him one more time. If he doesn't answer, I'll have to go get him," Drift said, tired of the others being so worried and secretly terrified that something had happened to Sideswipe while they were separated.

: _Sideswipe, do you come in? Where are you?:_ Drift asked into his comm-piece. The silence that followed was all that Drift needed. He climbed to his pedes and wiped the dust off of his armour.

"I'll be back soon," He said. His students didn't ask to come; knowing full well that Drift can't keep his apprentices safe if he had to carry Sideswipe. Windblade nodded and Optimus looked like he wanted to go with but refrained from saying anything.

Drift quietly made his way back into the shipyard, alert in case any humans were in the yard early. He scanned the containers with worried optics; looking at the numbers. Sideswipe had climbed into number one-hundred and fifty-five.

Yes; he had memorized the container number… to be fair, he did it for the other bots too.

Drift finally reached the container that he was positive that Sideswipe had climbed into back in Singapore and knocked on the side. He did it three more times than he reached for the front and opened the door.

\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Sideswipe had noticed something was off a week into the trip. He felt light-headed and a low-energon warning had flashed in his optics for the last three cycles. He knew that he was getting weaker and weaker by the cycle and Sideswipe was honestly surprised that he had made it to Singapore in the first place. The warning showed up two cycles into the overseas journey._

 _He also knew that he would go into a coma by the time he arrived in Nevada in an attempt to preserve the little energon that would be left flowing through his body. With no one to talk to or to at least keep him a little company; he waited. Waited for his protoform to get colder and colder by the hour; waited for all of his systems to start shutting down and waited for his normally blue optics to be consumed by the black that had started to show up at edge of his vision on the third cycle._

 _If Sideswipe had to honest with himself; he was scared. Scared that he would never wake up again; scared he would never get the chance to apologize to Strongarm or tell her and Windblade that they were sisters to him and to tell Bumblebee he saw him as a father; scared he would never tell Grimlock, Slipstream, Jetstorm, Fix-it and Rusty that he saw them as brothers; scared that he would never tell Drift that he saw the mech as a strict but loving uncle and he saw Optimus as a totally cool grandfather that had control issues._

 _He was scared and he had no one to tell him they he was going to be ok. He had never asked for it; not since he had been nearly broken in the whorehouse but he wanted it_ so badly _right now. He wanted that comfort that he had been denied for most of his mechling hood; that many creators gave to their sparklings so freely but he had been so harshly deprived of. He wanted a bot-a mech or femme, he didn't care- to hold him close and whisper sweet nothings into his audio-receptors as he lost conscious._

 _Seven cycles into the voyage; Sideswipe thought that he heard his team's voices but he knew that was ridiculous because they were on radio silence for the entire trip._

 _Ten cycles into the trip; he transformed back into bipedal mode and finally sank into the coma he had been waiting for._

/

Drift couldn't believe his optics but they weren't lying; Sideswipe was laying in his bipedal mode, sprawled out on the cold metal ground and not even moving. His optics was a dull and lifeless black and for a minute, Drift thought Sideswipe had gone to meet Primus.

The only thing that deluded that illusion was the fact his armour was still that bright red that Drift thought was slightly distasteful. Drift reached into the container and pulled the light bot out. Tossing the bot over his shoulder, he hurried out of the shipyard to the ridge.

The lack of energon in the mech's system could be the explanation but that meant one thing to Drift.

He needed to get Sideswipe to the others and he needed to do it now!

\\\\\\\\\\\

Windblade was watching the shipyard with Optimus, Slipstream and Jetstorm. Drift had been gone for an half an hour and they were all getting worried. Slipstream looked nervous and Jetstorm looked like he was two kliks away from crying; Windblade had no idea on what to do. She could never handle upset bots well and she practically ran from sparklings.

She could tell Optimus was in the same boat as her but he was trying to keep the two Minicons from having an emotional break-down so she could truthfully say that he was the better bot at this moment.

Windblade turned to look back at the shipyard; waiting for a sign.

She got it; in the form of a big mech running up the hill with something slung over his shoulder. She could have wept in joy if she wasn't a proud warrior.

Didn't stop a couple of coolant tears from gracing her faceplates.

"Drift," She called, "Is he ok?"

Optimus and the two emotional Minicons looked up at her in surprise, delight and worry. Drift finally joined them with Sideswipe being carried over his shoulder. The look on his faceplates stopped them from chewing out the all too silent bot still being carried by Drift.

"Drift, what is wrong? Why haven't you removed Sideswipe from your shoulder bearing and why hasn't he said a word?" Optimus asked. Drift just looked at him with sad optics and lowered the still frame onto the ground.

The black optics was the most obvious sign that something was wrong but the red armour meant that he was still alive. It was almost like he was just sleeping.

"What's wrong with him?" Jetstorm asked, coolant tears gathering in the corner of his optics. Slipstream gently bumped shoulder bearing with his brother. Drift surprised everybot by scooping the two Minicons in a frame-crushing hug.

"Master?" Slipstream asked meekly.

"What's wrong Master?" Jetstorm questioned softly.

"I fear Sideswipe has slipped into a stasis coma," Drift quietly said after two minutes of holding his students. Optimus and Windblade gasped in shock while Slipstream and Jetstorm shared a horrified look, "He had been giving my students his cube and I believe he's not taking another for himself. I fear his body decided that going into a stasis coma would be the best way to preserve the little energon he had left."

His two students, Optimus and Windblade just looked horrified but Jetstorm was the first to say something.

And the first to cry.

"He lied to us," Jetstorm sobbed, "He said he would grab another cube. He said he would eat. Why did he lie to us? Why?!"

Drift felt his spark break at the clear distress on his students faceplates and he resolved to fix it, "Sideswipe must not have wanted you two to go hungry when he could easily prevent it but he must have also felt like Windblade wouldn't let him take another cube."

Windblade was quick to protest, "I would have if he came to me and explained."

"I know that," Drift swiftly soothed the irate femme, "But he must have been conditioned to believe that he can only consume what he had been allotted."

Slipstream quickly wiggled out of the embrace and walked over to Sideswipe. They all watched, Drift ready to intercept the all too likely kick that Slipstream would try to deliver.

"You lied to us," Slipstream said softly, "But I think I get it," The small mech ignored the shocked faceplates and the look of pride on his masters faceplates, "You wanted to do the right thing for me and Jetstorm; making sure we were fed and we had enough to keep going onto the next cache, the next Decepticon, the next lesson and the next natural wonder," Then he gently kicked the still mech on the left arm; more of a tap than a physical kick, "But you are still in trouble mister. Jetstorm will more than likely kick your aft all the way back to the junkyard and back here if he's pissed enough. Miss Windblade might just do it for fun. I'm not too sure about Mr. Optimus but I think master Drift would do it just to teach you a lesson," Again ignoring the look of protest on his masters faceplates, "I kinda wish you didn't lie to us but at the same time, you didn't want us to worry about you. I hope you realize that worrying about each other is what a team does; they look out for each other. So get better soon. Please; for Jetstorm, Master Drift, Miss. Windblade and Mr. Optimus. For us."

Drift decided it might be a good time to move the little mech before he could launch another kick.

He tugged Slipstream away as Optimus scooped Sideswipe up and gently swung him over his shoulder bearings, "Windblade; is there a cache nearby we could use to take care of him?"

Windblade nodded, "Yea; it's a few joor's walk from here but we should reach it by nightfall."

"Good, let's get moving."

\\\\\\\\\

They walked for a few joor's but they finally reached a mesa in the middle of the Nevada desert and for a brief minute, Optimus was reminded of the mesa base that his team used. But he had seen no sign for Jasper so he assumed that they were in another part of Nevada.

Windblade lead them to a small door on the side, "I carved this out myself, took two months' worth of work but I made large enough to hide a star ship here."

The cavern they stepped into _was_ enormous; natural features poking through here and there to give it the expected cavern look. Mountains of spare parts laid scattered about and a few Megatron sized crates laid near the back. A large berth was placed against one wall and that was where Optimus place Sideswipe; gingerly placing the mech so they could access the protoform. Drift had found an intravenous for them to use and Windblade had recruited the two-still very upset-Minicons to help her fill a few bags with energon for Sideswipe.

Optimus had watched Ratchet do it enough times to know how to place an IV into a bot…but not enough times for him to get it on the first try. He managed to get it after a few tries but once it was in; they hooked up one of the bags to the IV.

"What do we do now?" Slipstream asked as they watched the rich blue liquid slowly make its way through the tube.

"Now," Optimus replied softly, "We wait."

/

 _Sideswipe was cold; too cold for it to be even remotely healthy for a bot. He wanted nothing more than to warm up but he wanted to stay where he was. He was safer that way. Everybot was and if they ever found out about his past, he would lose the only bots he had ever considered family._

 _No bot_ wanted _a slutty mechling in their perfect family._

 _He wondered where he was and he wanted to online his optics but he was scared._

 _What if the trip to Earth was nothing but a dream and he was still the property of the whorehouse? What if he dreamed his escape and what if he dreamed of being free? If that was the case, Sideswipe knew he would be a broken bot. He knew that he would most likely go insane and be offlined by the owners of the house._

 _He wanted to stay like this for a long time but something was bothering him; it was like an itch that can't be reached no matter what you did. It was… he didn't know what was._

 _He didn't know what to do._

 _"_ You lied to us but I think I get it _," Who was that? Did they find out just how dirty he really was?_

"You wanted to do the right thing for me and Jetstorm; making sure we were fed and we had enough to keep going onto the next cache, the next Decepticon, the next lesson and the next natural wonder," _Huh? What did he do? Wait, that bot said fed… did he feed somebot?_

 _Did he feed Daybreaker? Had the owners let him see his sparkling? He felt a light pain on his left arm; more of a soft tap than a full force kick. Who did that?  
_ "But you are still in trouble mister. Jetstorm will more than likely kick your aft all the way back to the junkyard and back here if he's pissed enough. Miss Windblade might just do it for fun. I'm not too sure about Mr. Optimus but I think master Drift would do it just to teach you a lesson," _Jetstorm… he knew that name. Windblade, Optimus and Drift too. They were a few of the bots that were on Earth with him! So it wasn't a dream! It wasn't! Sideswipe felt so happy! But he also felt sad; it meant that Daybreaker was still on Cybertron, away from him._

"I kinda wish you didn't lie to us but at the same time, you didn't want us to worry about you. I hope you realize that worrying about each other is what a team does; they look out for each other. So get better soon. Please; for Jetstorm, Master Drift, Miss. Windblade and Mr. Optimus. For us." _He now knew what the bother was; it was the need to get back to the other bots; the need to apologize to them for lying and the need to fix his mistakes._

 _But he wasn't ready to come back; not yet. He knew that because he felt too tired to move and he somehow knew that if he moved now, his body could suffer some major damage._

 _So Sideswipe waited._

\\\\\\\\\

Drift knew that Jetstorm wasn't the most patient of mechs but he had no idea that when worried over a friend, his patience got so much shorter; for everybot else at least. With the friend in question; Jetstorm apparently has the patience of a Carrier.

He also had medical training; proven when he fixed the IV, placed sensors on the helm and had done a check on Sideswipe an hour later.

"How is Sideswipe doing?" He heard Windblade ask and Drift knew that he would need to run interference. The poor Minicon had been working nonstop for the last five cycles and he had been asked that same question every two joor's or so.

Drift wouldn't be surprised if Jetstorm finally snapped.

"Miss Windblade, I don't have anything new on Sideswipes condition and if I did; you bots would be the first to know!"

Looks like Jetstorm snapped.

Drift quickly moved over there before the warrior femme could snap back. He spun her around; forcing her to look at him

"Fighting isn't going to let Jetstorm do his job Windblade," He said in an attempt to defuse the situation. Windblade took a quick breath to keep her calm and she turned to apologize to the Minicon but she stopped. Drift looked over her shoulder and saw what she saw.

Jetstorm had coolant leaking out of the corners of his optic and they were making trails down his faceplates.

"I don't know ok?! I want him to get better as much as you do and I can only do so much from out here!" Jetstorm sobbed. Drift quickly gathered Jetstorm into his arms but the words he said echoed in his processor.

"What do you mean 'from out here'?" Windblade asked once Jetstorm was calm enough to talk without sobbing. Jetstorm wiped the coolant off of his cheeks and looked at her; startling Windblade with the sad look in his optics.

"Something a bot would willingly starve themselves because they have suffered so much that they just want it all to end. They want an out that they can control and no bot will know until it's too late. These bots have suffered a great loss that was so powerful that they couldn't bear the pain. Most often; it's the loss of a spark-mate or a sparkling, sometime even both. But some bot's can't eat; because they were either poor or they were captured and not properly nourished by their captors. But when a bot does go into stasis, their processors create a field that protects their sanity," Drift wanted to interrupt to ask some questions but Jetstorm just kept going, "When the bot is ready to come out, they break the field. Many outside bots attempt to do it for them but it's too dangerous for the victim. They sometimes succeed in breaking the barrier but what happens is that the bot's processors are damaged and they go insane. I really can't do anything because I refuse to act before the bot-in this case, it'd be Sideswipe- is ready to come out."  
Drift and Windblade were quiet, trying to absorb this new piece of information.

Drift wondered for a few kliks were his student was trained and why he had left the medical field.

"So we just wait?" Windblade queried as Jetstorm turned back to the charts.

He nodded, "Yes but bots that have family or friends that they care about often return quicker than bot that have nothing to live for. Since we are his friends, he might come back to us soon."

Windblade nodded and left the two alone, sensing that Drift wanted to ask the Minicon some questions.

Jetstorm kept working, hoping his master wouldn't ask questions as to why he knew so much.

"Why become my apprentice when you could have a job at the hospitals and help others every day?"

Let it be known that Master Drift is nothing if not blunt and straight to the soul of the problem.

Yikes.

"I became your apprentice so I could help stop the bots that would hurt other bots and place them in the hospital in the first place," He answered, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.

"Where were you trained?"

Another soul question.

"I trained at the old Tyger Pax hospital before the war and at the Iacon's Light hospital after that."

Drift fell silent. The Tyger Pax hospital was in the center of the Tyger Pax attack and Iacon's Light was destroyed by Decepticon terrorists that wanted to prove to the council that _they_ had the power over life and death.

Both of those attacks had a total of over one point five million casualties.

"What did Slipstream do?"

Oh… Bad territory. Back it up.

"That is something you will have to ask Slipstream. I don't mean to be disrespectful but I can't say that because it was his job."  
Drift decided to pursue that question at a later date but he wanted to know more about Jetstorm.

"What is your specialization?" He asked. Jetstorm froze for a second but he kept on working. Drift thought for a minute or two that the mech wouldn't answer.

But he was wrong.

"Paediatrics and Carrier's care."

 ** _Wildcat: Yet another cliffhanger! I must be driving you all mad by now. Disclaimer; I own nothing. Wish I did but I don't._**


	4. Chapter 4

Optimus was watching Slipstream; watching as the Minicon recharged beside the still unconscious Sideswipe. Three cycles have passed since the conversation between Drift and Jetstorm and Optimus was getting extremely worried. Sideswipe hasn't moved an astro-inch and it was making the others antsy. Windblade was constantly building something out of scrap and Drift was running through endless exercises. Slipstream had taken to meditating often and Jetstorm was monitoring Sideswipe twenty-four/seven.

The only good that came out of this ordeal was that Drift and his students were even closer than before.

He watched Jetstorm as the mech worked; the numbers and charts making more sense to the Minicon tha it did to Optimus. The Minicon was an interesting fella and his brother-who was currently recharging and curled up on Sideswipes right side-was just as interesting.

Drift was nearby; not doing his exercises for once and was watching over Slipstream as he snuggled a little deeper into Sideswipes side.

"They are been good for this long, I wonder when they will start going stir-crazy," Windblade said as she observed the two Minicons. Jetstorm gave the femme an exasperated look as he finished recording the latest set of vitals.

"Not long with your humour," He snarked back quietly, chuckling as Windblade gaped at him in mock hurt.

"Low blow Jetstorm and here I thought you couldn't get any lower," She replied. Jetstorm shot her a glare.

"Size jokes? Really? You know that height doesn't make the jokester my dear," He said in a stiff, formal voice with his scent-receptor in the air. Windblade snorted at this while Optimus and Drift chuckled at their antics.

The peace wasn't for long when a wail filled the air. Slipstream jolted and fell off the berth while everybot else jumped.

Jetstorm checked the monitor.

"He's breaking the barrier!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Sideswipe was so tired but he knew that staying here any longer could be catastrophic for his processor._

 _Don't ask how he knew this; he just did._

 _He eyed that barrier with distaste as he hefted the giant sledgehammer onto his right shoulder._

 _Hey; his processor, his rules._

 _Sideswipe balanced the giant hammer in his servos and cocked his arms back. He waited a second and then swung forward with all the brute force he could muster. The hammer connected with the barrier with a loud bang. He scrutinized the wall for a few seconds until he saw a minute crack in the barrier._

 _Sideswipe started to swing again and again, determined to get out of there. He had some things to do._

/

Everybot in the room was staring at the charts, looking for a sign that Sideswipe really was waking up. Jetstorm was the only one to see it but the blip was only seeable to the trained eye.

"There! He hit the barrier!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Sideswipe hit the barrier._

/

"There! Another blip!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Sideswipe swung. Spider web-like cracks slowly climbed the dome-like barrier as he swung again._

/

They watched the blips; once unseeable but becoming more and more obvious.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _He swung one more time._

 _The dome shattered._

/

They watched the screen; the line that previously displayed the blips going haywire. One giant blip appeared then they died down. Optimus immediately grew worried at the fact that the little thin line had stopped moving all together. It got worse when Jetstorm's servos flew across keyboard but the Minicon didn't even seem worried; in fact, he looked overjoyed.

"That's it Sideswipe! Come back to us!" Jetstorm cheered as he raced around the berth, unhooking the sensors from Sideswipes helm and placing another bag of energon on the IV.

"Umm… what happened?" Windblade asked once she was certain he was done running around. Jetstorm looked at her and for the first time in cycles, the Minicon looked _ecstatic._

"He broke the barrier, he should be joining us in the land of the living shortly. But…," He turned to look at every bot with a stern look, "We need to establish a few rules beforehand," Drift opened his mouthplates to say something but Jetstorm raised his servo to stop him, "Sorry Master but I would appreciate it if you followed the rules too."

Drift nodded once; Jetstorm may be his apprentice but he trumped Drift as a medic.

"One; no crowding him once he wakes up, he'll be disorientated, delirious and likely to strike at one of us in panic. Two; no asking him any questions about what had happened or personal questions for at _least_ a week. Three; no forcing him to move right away," He turned to pin a definitely evil glare on Optimus Prime, "He'll be in no condition to move around for a week so _we. Stay. Put_ ," Optimus looked unnerved by the fact a seven foot tall Minicon was scaring the absolute slag out of him but he finally nodded when the Minicon Stink-Eye evolved into the Minicon Death-Glare.

Jetstorm looked pleased with Optimus's reaction; which unnerved everyone else.

He turned his attention back to the screen that showed Sideswipes vitals; including a steady-and thankfully strong- spark-beat.

Optimus slowly inched his way towards Drift; Windblade creeping closer to avoid the moody Minicon.

"Is he always like that?" Optimus asked nervously. Drift nodded his helm once. A wrench flew in their general direction; making Optimus and Windblade jump a hister into the air.

Drift was just too used to Jetstorm's idiosyncrasies.

"All trained medical bots have their audio-receptors on full volume," Jetstorm sing-songed, "And that means I can hear you."  
The shiver that went through the room said it all.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The next three solar cycles was spend waiting for Sideswipe to wake up and avoiding the crazy-and damn deadly with his wrenches; reminding Optimus a little too much of Ratchet- Minicon and his look-a-like brother. When Jetstorm and Slipstream realized that they terrified Windblade _and_ Optimus Prime well; _they went to town_.

It had started after the wrench attack; Optimus was near the energon supply when Slipstream had showed up out of nowhere and had scared the spark out of him.

Slipstream had noticed it.

Windblade was next; yelping when Jetstorm had snuck up on her to get a cube for himself and his brother.

Drift had found the whole debacle amusing but he still had a quick word with his two mischievous students about giving bots spark-attacks.

Didn't really stop them from doing it.

Jetstorm had finally decided to leave the big-bot terrorizing to his twin and focus on taking care of his patient.

Slipstream was more than happy to oblige.

Jetstorm watched as his normally strict brother stalked Windblade like a seasoned Felioid; waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the unsuspecting femme. Drift had seen it too but Optimus hadn't yet seen the playful nuisance behind him; making him collateral-or a bonus- to the prank that Slipstream was planning.

He turned back to the screen; chuckling at the pair of shocked yowls that came from behind him. He watched the spark-beat on the screen, happy that it seemed even stronger than yester-cycle. At the rate that Sideswipe was going at, Jetstorm wouldn't be surprised if he woke up some time today or tomorrow.

He could hear Drift reprimanding Slipstream but he kept his optics on the monitor; not wanting to miss a thing. That was the only reason he saw the lines speed up.

"He's waking up!

/

Sideswipe felt sore, lethargic and he was craving a cube of high-grade. He wanted nothing more than to just stay curled up on the berth but he knew that he had to face reality.

Jetstorm and Slipstream would most likely want to chew him out for lying.

Optimus will be upset that they wasted time over a slutty, dirty waste of space when they could have gone ahead to the salvage yard.

Windblade would be mad at him for wasting precious resources.

All Drift would want is answers and that's what that scared him.

That scared Sideswipe because once Drift knew just how dirty Sideswipe really was, he would leave and not look back; taking everybot with him.

Sideswipe knew that his spark would shatter when it happened.

He already had to rebuild it once before when he lost Daybreaker.

It was still like shattered glass; the shards slicing into his mesh.

He turned on his optics, not wanting to face the music but not really having a choice. He turned his helm to look and he nearly jumped out of the berth.

Jetstorm was _really close_ ; looking him over with critical optics. He backed up once he was seemingly satisfied with something and Sideswipe got a good look at the other bots crowding around the berth.

He was expecting anger or indifference to grace their faceplates.

He wasn't _expecting worry_.

"Hey," Sideswipe said slowly; just waiting for the first fist to fly out and hit him, punishing him for his laziness. Drift reached towards him and Sideswipe unconsciously flinched away; his optics screwed tightly closed. He didn't see their shocked faceplates or the worried looks but he did hear the aggravated sigh and loud ruckus. Sideswipe opened his optics to see everybot being chased away from the berth by a wrench wielding Minicon.

"WHAT WAS THE FIRST RULE?! NO CROWDING THE BERTH! GET! SHOO! SHOO!" Jetstorm-Sideswipe could always tell them apart- hollered as he herded the three giant bots into a far corner of the room they were in; terrorizing them with a wrench of all things.

Sideswipe couldn't see _Slipstream_.

He felt the berth dip ever so slightly on his right side and he peeked down. Nestled by his chassis was the missing Minicon; looking like this-he didn't know what to call it- was a normal occurrence.

"Umm… what are you doing?" He asked, watching as Slipstream got comfortable.

Slipstream looked at him with kind optics as he finally settled down, "I'm staying with you. It must have been lonely in there with no bot to talk too. I'm just keeping you company."

Sideswipe would never say this out loud but those words touched his still broken spark; a soothing balm for the piercing shards. He gently pressed his right servo to Slipstream's backstrut, "Thanks," He whispered as exhaustion finally won and he slipped into recharge.

/

They watched Sideswipe recharge.

Was it creepy? Yes.

Was it necessary? Yes.

Would Slipstream and Sideswipe kill them for it? Absolutely.

Jetstorm was watching the display, not wanting to take any chances of Sideswipe falling back into his stasis coma. The first twenty-four hours after were the most risky for a stasis coma patient; there was an increased chance of the bot in question-it being Sideswipe in this case- to fall back into another coma. But unlike when he was comatose and dead still, Sideswipe was twitching every few breems and muttering now and again.

Jetstorm quickly checked the display and was frankly worried about the increase in temperature. Sideswipe's cooling system kicked in but unlike the more noisy versions that many bot's had, his was silent; the only noise a hushed hum as it tried to do its job.

"Is this normal?" Optimus asked at Sideswipe twitched yet again muttered something. Slipstream just kept recharging like this was completely normal.

"Yes. The protoform is just checking to see of its ok; normal sleep habits should resume by the end of the week. The temperature however is not normal," He turned to Windblade, "Do you have any antibiotics in this place?"

"Yes," She said, "But why do you need them?"  
Jetstorm answered, "Because he has a fever and I want to nip it in the bud before it turns into something nasty."

Windblade quickly nodded and started to rummage through a few of the crates, roping Optimus in to help when she didn't have luck in the first crate. Drift went to help when angry muttering was heard from the irate femme.

Jetstorm turned his attention back to Sideswipe as they searched; wondering what he was dreaming about that could cause him to mutter so much.

Slipstream bumped into something and a sub-space pocket opened on the outer thigh; a memory box falling out. Jetstorm was startled by it for a second but he quickly shoved it back in and closed the pocket.

Whatever was on that thing, he could ask about it another time.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Sideswipe was gazing at the bot beside him, curing up a little closer to the gold and silver Seeker. He had met Starburst five lunar cycles ago when he had infiltrated the house in an attempt to gather information to bring it down. Starburst had bought him and had protested when Sideswipe had willing spread his legs._**

 ** _They talked for hours; Starburst leaving and coming back the next night. Neither of them planned on falling in love with each other but it had happened and if Sideswipe had to be honest, he was happy._**

 ** _Starburst had come today looking sad and had cried when Sideswipe had asked him what is wrong._**

 ** _The council had decided to send him on an off-planet mission._**

 ** _Starburst wanted to take Sideswipe with him but doesn't have the credits needed to buy him. Sideswipe decided that tonight that they were going to do it, so they would remember the others touch while Starburst was away._**

 ** _The rest of the night was the best night of Sideswipes life._**

 ** _He didn't know that interfacing could feel_** **so good.**

 ** _They didn't even feel their spark-chambers open just enough for a miracle to happen._**

/

Jetstorm quickly hooked up the antibiotics once they were found- they were in a crate by the back wall and under a mountain of other medical supplies-and shooed the others away. He didn't tell them about the box because they would take it and look through it.

That would invade Sideswipes privacy.

He watched the mech twitch yet again and Slipstream curl up a little tighter to the slender bot.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Sideswipe stared at the test clutched in his servos; not daring himself to believe it. He had gotten sick two weeks after Starburst had left with his friend Saberhorn on that mission and the owners took him to the in-house doctor._**

 ** _They didn't want their best-selling whore to get sick._**

 ** _The doctor had performed the test on a hunch, having seen these symptoms before; he had been just as shocked as Sideswipe was but he knew that he needed to get Sideswipe out of here._**

 ** _Sideswipe jumped when the collar was removed and he stared at the doctor in shock as the mech opened an access hatch that was hidden under a berth._**

 ** _"Quick, get in," Sideswipe scrambled in, "This tunnel leads to the edge of Iacon-just keep going straight once you get down- and a little ways into the plains. Once you get out; transform and get on the highway headed east. Get off at the exit to Altihex and find the Center for Carriers. Ask for Ricochet and tell her Sunwolf sent you."  
Sideswipe stared at him, "Thank you."_**

 ** _"You're welcome. Now go!" And the hatch was closed overhead.  
Sideswipe started to climb down when he heard the window being shattered and a thump. Hoping the kind mech was alright, he continued down the ladder and towards freedom._**

/

Drift wandered a little closer once he knew that his student wouldn't come after him with a wrench.

Drift never knew that a seven foot Minicon could be so dangerous with a repair tool.

He watched Slipstream curl up under Sideswipe's servo as the willowy mech twitched yet again. Jetstorm kept an optic on the pair as he kept the other optic on the screen that displayed Sideswipes vitals.

"Has anything changed?" Drift asked once he was certain that Jetstorm didn't have a wrench within arm's reach. Jetstorm looked at his master with a critical optic, looking like he was judging him.

"No," Drift looked relieved, "But I did discover something."

Drift looked at his student with a stunned look, "What is it?" He asked.

Jetstorm looked around and leaned closer; Drift unknowingly mimicking him, "Slipstream had bumped into a sub-space pocket on Sideswipes thigh and a memory box tumbled out. I don't want the others to know because they would go in and look through the box. I would rather them not know until he was ready to tell than loose Sideswipes trust."  
Drift nodded at the Minicon; Optimus Prime and Windblade are used to knowing everything and finding that Sideswipe is hiding a memory box from them would upset them and lead them to looking through it.

"Thank you for trusting me."

"Let's just hope that we don't have to keep this a secret for long."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Sideswipe walked through the pristine hallways, looking for his friend._**

 ** _Knockout had been a constant ever since he arrived at Altihex and the Center for Carriers. He had helped Sideswipe get adjusted to freedom and the idea of Carrierhood and Sideswipe had offered support to the solo parent._**

 ** _Carrying twins is no laughing matter; especially since their father is a dead Decepticon._**

 ** _Sideswipe didn't understand a word of the medical jargon when Knockout had explained it but basically what he and Breakdown did was preserve a few small portions of their spark so they could have children if one of them ever died. Since Knockout barely went out into the field, he was the one entrusted with the fragments of their sparks and once the war was over, Knockout waited for the right moment._**

 ** _It had presented itself when the Council had lost track of the former Decepticon in Tyger Pax where Knockout was helping repair the old Tyger Pax hospital-now named the AllSpark Memorial Hospital- and helping the overworked staff to tend to the multitude of patients that had flooded the place._**

 ** _Over three-quarters of them were bots that were helping with construction work and had gotten into workplace accidents._**

 ** _Once Knockout had realized what had happened, he proceeded to impregnate himself and fled to Altihex's Center for Carriers. The Center was a sanctuary zone, meaning that anybot that goes there is protected from all harm and anybot seeking to harm them would be unable to do anything._**

 ** _A perfect place for a pregnant ex-Decepticon to stay at until the children was born._**

 ** _He finally found Knockout in the living room reading over a few datapads and rubbing his large belly. Sideswipe started to show three lunar cycles ago and he loved to rub his bump so it was no surprise that Knockout also enjoyed it._**

 ** _"Whatcha doing?" Sideswipe asked as he settled down beside Knockout._**

 ** _"Just waiting for the labour to start," Knockout said as he fidgeted, "They are so ready to come out."_**

 ** _Sideswipe nodded and took Knockout's servo in his own, "It's going to be ok. You're going to be a great parent."_**

 ** _Knockout nodded than flinched. He looked at the smaller red mech with wide optics, "It's time."_**

/

Windblade trotted over and watched the sleeping pair as Sideswipe murmured under his breath and jerked slightly. Slipstream was still asleep, much to her surprise.

"Have either of them woken up yet?" She asked as the recharging Minicon slumbered on.

"No but I'm not surprised," Jetstorm said as he typed away on the keyboard, "Slipstream had been staying up at night to watch Sideswipe."  
Windblade looked shocked but Jetstorm just laughed, "He doesn't seem to realize that I'm up too but he had always been a worry-bot when it came to friends and family. So am I but we display it differently; I loose almost all of my non-existent patience but he just stays up and watched over the other bot until they either get better or I sedate his aft."

He chuckled at Windblade's reaction and turned back to the monitor.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Sideswipe watched Knockout nurse his sparklings with a smile on his faceplates. It had been two lunar cycles since they were born- a mechling named Breakout and a femmeling named Knockdown- and Sideswipe though that they were adorable. Knockdown looked just like her Carrier but had her Creator's colouring while Breakout was reversed, sharing his Creator's looks and his Carrier's colouring._**

 ** _Both Knockout and Sideswipe believed that they were worth the ten hours of labour._**

 ** _He looked down at his now large stomach with a mixture of wonder, delight and trepidation. He nearly had his servo broken when Knockout went through labour and if the normally strong war veteran could be reduced to tears during labour than how was Sideswipe going to handle the pain?_**

 ** _Knockout must have noticed something because Sideswipe soon had an armful of baby Knockdown and a bottle in his servos._**

 ** _"Stop worrying so much; you'll do fine," Knockout scolded as he tucked Breakout's bottle under his chin and rubbed soothing circles on his backstrut._**

 ** _Sideswipe just looked at him with fear-filled optics, "I'm not as strong as you though."_**

 ** _He yelped when a servo gently connected to the back of his helm; it then resting on the back of his neck and gently petting him, "It's ok to be afraid. It does hurt," Sideswipe quickly pinned a glare on the mech who had the bearings to smile at him, "But the pain is worth it to see you're sparkling for the first time in your arms."_**

 ** _Sideswipe nodded with a soft smile. He remembered just how big the smile on Knockout's face when he got to hold his sparklings for the first time._**

 ** _A bolt of pain traveled up his backstrut and he knew._**

 ** _"Hey Knockout."_**

 ** _"Yes Sideswipe?"_**

 ** _"It's time."_**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Optimus watched Jetstorm flit around the berth from the corner of the room. The Minicon wasn't worried so Optimus wasn't either… much.

It was Optimus's job as a leader to worry over the condition of the bots under his command and Sideswipe was most definitely under his command. So were the other bots but even Optimus respected a medic's word and treated it as law.

It was not an attempt to stay on Jetstorm's good side and avoid a wrench being whipped at him.

He dared to wander a little closer and when Jetstorm didn't react; Optimus took it as a sign to get a little nearer.

He opened his mouthplates but Jetstorm beat him to it, "Their recharge pattern is perfectly normal and both of them will be up tomorrow. The twitching and muttering is normal too."

Optimus closed his mouthplates; knowing that Jetstorm was close to snapping and he edged away slowly, deciding that Drift can deal with it.

/

 ** _"Come on Sides, just a little more," Knockout encouraged as the in-house doctors worked at the end of the berth._**

 ** _Sideswipe groaned, "I can't! I'm too tired."_**

 ** _Knockout gritted his denta's; he wasn't going to lose the mech that had become his best friend, "Yes you can! Your sparkling needs you to do this. They're almost here! Don't you want to meet them?" Sideswipe nodded ardently, he wanted nothing more than to finally meet his sparkling, "Then hold on!"_**

 ** _The doctor at the end of the berth looked at Sideswipe, "Ok Sideswipe; the sparkling is almost here, we need one more push. Can you do that?" Sideswipe nodded fervently, "Ok, here we go! Three, two, one; push!"_**

 ** _Sideswipe pushed with every bit of strength that he had left; Knockout winced as his servos were squeezed hard. A wail filled the air a second later and Knockout got the pleasure to see a smile fill Sideswipes faceplates; love and wonder filling the smaller mechs tired optics as the nurse cleaned and wrapped a blanket around the tiny protoform._**

 ** _"Congratulations, it's a femme," The doctor said as the nurse handed the blanket over to Sideswipe. The sparkling had a pair of Seeker wings and a unique gold colouring with red accents. A pair of small wheels graced the back of her legs._**

 ** _Almost nineteen joor's of labour didn't matter at all when Sideswipe was holding his daughter._**

 ** _"Hey there precious, I'm your Carrier," Sideswipe cooed as the doctors bustled around them, cleaning the room._**

 ** _The sparkling opened her tiny violet optics and looked at Sideswipe. Knockout smiled at Sideswipe and planted a kiss to the sweaty helm, "She's beautiful Sides," He praised, "What are you going to name her?"_**

 ** _Sideswipe looked thoughtful; pondering the perfect name for this perfect little femme until he saw the sunrise._**

 ** _"Daybreaker," Knockout looked at him like he was crazy, "Her name is Daybreaker."_**

 ** _Knockout rolled the name off of his glossa; it had a unique but poetic ring to it," Daybreaker it is then."_**


	5. Chapter 5

Slipstream stirred; slowly taking in the silence and rolled over. He tried to remember the last thing that had happened; all he remembered was settling down beside Sideswipe… oh…

He peeled himself away from Sideswipes side and off of the berth.

Slipstream padded over to the crate that contained the Energon cubes and grabbed one for himself. His sleepy optics looking the slumbering frame of Sideswipe and could help but notice a few things about the lithe bot.

The way he had his left arm tossed over his sleek costa and grill plate in an undoubtedly protective manner.

The way he looked restless even in recharge.

The way he flinched constantly; even though he was recharging.

It was almost like he was waiting for someone to force him awake.

He watched as Sideswipe started to mutter and twitch in his recharge, "No… please…"

Slipstream crept closer to the slumbering mech as the elegant red helm started to toss side to side in what looked like an attempt to dislodge whatever nightmare was plaguing his processor.

"Please…No… Please don't…"

Just what was Sideswipe dreaming about?

\\\\\\\\\

 ** _"Do you have the transcripts?" Sideswipe asked as he juggled Daybreaker, Knockdown, Breakout and a bunch of items that needed to be packed._**

 ** _Knockout looked at the poor mech and nodded, "Yep, The_** _CERF Calisto_ _ **will be leaving the port tomorrow and spending ten vorns in space studying rare space anomalies," He recited as Sideswipe tossed more items at him.**_

 ** _"I'll put these three down for bed; I'll come help once they are out," Sideswipe said, quickly dumping the rest of the items on the bed and walking to the two cradles in the corner. Gently lowering Knockdown first and placing Breakout beside her; he turned to place Daybreaker in her crib when the window shattered._**

 ** _Knockout swiftly turned around to see a tall red and orange mech bearing no crest standing in front of Sideswipe-who had placed himself between the cradle that held Knockdown and Breakout and was clutching his own daughter like she was a lifeline- pointing a gun at the mechling parent. Knockout quickly pulled out his own gun and pointed it at the bot's helm._**

 ** _"Who the frag are you?" Knockout snarled as he reached for the emergency button that was located in the room._**

 ** _The mech didn't turn but Knockout could feel the mechs arrogantly victorious smirk and he didn't like the way Sideswipe shied away from the mech with wide, terrified optics._**

 ** _"Why, I'm one of Crimsons old friends. I just wanted to congratulate him on his sparkling," The mech sneered and that was when Knockout clicked off the safety. He knew of Sideswipe's past and the fact that mech used his stage name told Knockout exactly what kind of old friend he was._**

 ** _"The mechs name is Sideswipe; get it right," Knockout snapped as he pressed the button._**

 ** _The mech turned his helm to the side, keeping Sideswipe and the sparkling in his sight, "The whore-house wants their prized mech back."_**

 ** _"You mean the whore-house that is under Council protection," Knockout snarled as he fingered the trigger._**

 ** _"Sure, we could go with that," The mech drawled causally, "But I was paid a pretty credit to have Crimson Streak returned to their more than capable servo's."_**

 ** _Sideswipe shivered and clutched Daybreaker a little closer. Knockout considered just shooting the mech but that risked the mech falling on Sideswipe and the three sparklings. Shooting the gun might set it off and cause a casualty._**

 ** _Knockout aimed for the servo, shooting the gun could buy Sideswipe enough time to get the sparklings out of the room; watching as Sideswipe activated the hover feature of the crib that Breakout and Knockdown were in._**

 ** _"Since you won't come willingly," The mech sneered, "I'll take the next best thing."_**

 ** _Sideswipe barely had any time to register those words before the mech launched himself at him. He felt a scream rip from his vocalizer and punches landing on him but the only thing he could focus on was keeping Daybreaker safe. A punch to the helm knocked him away and his daughter was ripped from his arms._**

 ** _His vision was cloudy but Sideswipe could hear Knockout hollering and the wailing of the two in the crib but all he could focus on was the screams of his daughter._**

 ** _"Day…breaker…" He gasped out as his vision faded to black._**

/

Slipstream watched Sideswipe flinch and fidget some more in his recharge; debating whether or not to wake the restless mech up.

Sideswipe didn't give much of a choice when he shot up not even a klik later, rapidly intaking and expelling oxygen as frantic optics danced around the chamber. Jetstorm bolted over the second the vital recorder started to beep rapidly; drawing in the attention of the others.

"Sideswipe; it's ok! You are safe!" Jetstorm yelped as the lithe red mech pinned the Minicon with wild and pained-filled optics.

Optimus and Drift were poised to help the klik that Sideswipe reacted negatively but that never happened.

"Sideswipe?" Slipstream asked softly as the mech shook like a piece of rotten metal. Sideswipe whipped his helm up to look at the Minicon, "Are you ok?"

Sideswipe nodded his helm once than shook it, "Yes… no; I don't know!" The mech cried out; startling the other bots in the room, "I'll never be ok but I have to be for everyone else!"

Jetstorm edged away slowly, letting Slipstream do his thing while he left to get a sedative.

"Sideswipe, you can talk to us; we can help," Slipstream soothed.

 _That was the wrong thing to say_.

Sideswipe looked at Slipstream with wild optic, "No one can help me! No one! No bot cares!" Sideswipe said in a hysterical tone, "I let myself get sold to the Jade Cube and get myself sold to the highest fragging bidder and fragged by other bots every single night; I didn't even like it!"  
Slipstream's optics filled with an indescribable sadness as he slowly started to realize what the hysterical mech was talking about. The others- except maybe Jetstorm- didn't know what he meant.

"Sideswipe…"

The poor mech just kept on ranting, "Then I let my own daughter get kidnapped and I couldn't do slag about it! I'm just a mechling!" Everyone looked startled and unnerved by this side of Sideswipe; Jetstorm pausing in his frantic rummaging of the medical crate to look at the slender mech in horror, "I let my only daughter and link to my spark-mate get taken right out of my servo's! I just want to finally hold Daybreaker in my arms again and hear her laugh! I just- I just," Sideswipe completely lost it at this point, resting his helm in his servos and sobbing.

Everybot knew that this wasn't the mech that they were used too seeing. Slipstream scrambled onto the berth and gently took a servo in his own, "None of that was your fault Sideswipe. You didn't choose to be sold, you didn't choose to let your daughter get taken. The owners of the Jade Cube did and you are not to blame."

Sideswipe just kept sobbing and Jetstorm choose that moment to inject the sedative into the distressed mechs IV. Sideswipe looked normal at first but the sedative did its job and the poor mech started to sway. Drift quickly steadied him and helped him lay down. Within kliks, the mech was asleep.

Silence reigned in the chamber for all of ten kliks before Windblade wanted answers, "Okay… what just happened?"  
Jetstorm sighed, "That was the reason behind rule number two."  
"Okay; we get that but why did it happen?" She asked.

"Like I mentioned before, his body is ensuring that it is still functional and what happens is that certain parts of his processor gets affected for a while. This stage only lasts a day but it usually manifests itself within a half a week of revival. The main areas that get affected are the ones regulating emotion and word processing."

"In other words," Slipstream said, effectively taking over for his brother, "He's gonna say things that are straight from the spark. He will definitely remember what has happened and he is going to react poorly so we have to be supportive, not judgemental. We also have to _not_ push him too much," He directed a glare at everyone, "We want him to open up but at his pace and his pace alone."

Everybot was quick to nod. Drift however was marvelling at the way that Slipstream handled the irrational Sideswipe.

"How did you learn how to handle him?" He asked. Slipstream looked at Drift with cool but sad optics.

"I used to work at the Altihex Center for Carriers Care before the war broke out."

/

Sideswipe drifted in and out for the rest of the cycle. Most of those consisted of the mech curling up and crying his spark out with somebot rubbing his backstrut. A few of the times had bore witness to sobbed apologies for everything; being a slut, losing his daughter, slowing them down, freaking them out. Sideswipe had apologies for even the tiniest misdemeanor and frankly, it was freaking them out even _more_ than the original slipping of the upset mech's backstory. They were thankful when Sideswipe slipped into a natural recharge.

They waited for the recharging mech to wake up but Slipstream and Jetstorm were just praying to Primus that they had the smarts to avoid the painful questions.

They both knew that was impossible.


	6. Chapter 6

Sideswipe slowly woke up with a killer migraine. Can bots even get migraines?

Yes, yes they can…

He pulled himself into an upright position and instantly regretted it. His tank wanted to rebel and Sideswipe was tempted to let it do what it wanted to do.

"Hey Sideswipe, you awake?"

Sideswipe flinched at the loud noise and turned to glare at the fragging aft who was making noise.

Jetstorm just looked amused at the glare he was being treated too by the clearly unhappy mech.

"I'll take that glare at a maybe and go to the next question. Do you feel ok?"

Sideswipe grumbled, "I feel like I'm going to toss my Energon all over the place."  
Jetstorm just nodded, "That's a normal reaction to the sedative, I'll get a tank-soother for you."  
Sedative? What in the Pit was he… oh…

 _Slag._

Sideswipe buried his helm in his servos and hoped that he can get out quick enough to avoid all the questions that they were going to have as the memories of the last day played out in his memory core. He would have to probably get past Jetstorm, Drift, Windblade, Slipstream and Optimus and he didn't know the terrain but he was also counting on the fact the others didn't as well.

Before Sideswipe could put his plan into action, Jetstorm came back with a needle and he quickly injected into the IV that Sideswipe hadn't noticed before and was frankly impressed hadn't been ripped out in the chaos that had taken place yesterday.

"Here, it'll take a minute but the soother should help," Jetstorm stated as Sideswipe started to feel the affects. He felt his tank slowly loose the nauseous feel and Sideswipe slowly relaxed. He turned to scan the area and got a face full of light blue optics staring at him.

Four of them.

Sideswipe yelped and fell out of the berth.

"What the Pit?! What in Primus's name are you doing?!" Sideswipe yelled. Jetstorm turned around and saw the gaggle of four staring at Sideswipe… who was on the floor.

"Are you ok?" Optimus said as Sideswipe climbed back up onto the berth.

"Other than the oh so wonderful spark attack you lot just gave me?" Sideswipe bit back sarcastically.

"Yep," Windblade said.

Sideswipe just gave her the stink optic. Everyone just looked at him, waiting him out.

Sideswipe sighed and turned to look at Jetstorm, "How much longer?"

"Until you are better or they stop staring?"

"Both."  
Jetstorm chuckled, "You have a couple more days until you are well enough to travel. The staring is until they are satisfied."  
Sideswipe groaned, "Great. I'm stuck with a pack of warp owls watching my every move. I'm going back to bed."

Sideswipe laid back down but he still felt everybot staring at him even when he turned his backstrut to them.

He managed to ignore them for all of three kliks.

"GAH! ENOUGH!" He yelled, flipping back over and glaring at everyone, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

Everybot looked at him nervously and Drift was elbowed with a couple of joints.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Drift asked. Sideswipe saw Jetstorm face-palm.

"Do you have any questions?" Sideswipe asked back.

Slipstream face-palmed.

"Who's Daybreaker?" Windblade asked. Sideswipe jolted like he was punched in the face-plates. And a sad look filled his optics.

"You'll need the whole story for me to answer that," He said softly, "I hope you have no plans."

Everybot quickly settled around for what they assumed was a horrific tale.

Sideswipe watched the others get settled and slowly took an intake of air, hoping to stall for a few more kliks for his sake if no one else's. He tried to reign in his composure but his chassis felt tight and his spark chamber felt like it was going to leap right out of his chassis.

That's probably why it was so tight.

"I never had any real Creator's or Carrier's to care for me. I was abandoned on the streets of Iacon for some strange reason when I was old enough to walk and talk; I don't even know if I have brother's or sister's. I spent a few years in the alleys and tunnels; living off the kindness of the other bots' n the streets. My luck ended when the slavers came."

Everyone froze, not a breath was taken.

"Slavers?" Drift whispered with barely suppressed rage. If there was one kind of scoundrel that Drift hated the most, it was slavers.

There was a special place in the Pits for them.

Sideswipe flinched and Drift felt like the Unmaker himself when he saw that.

"I was captured when I freed Quicksilver- a speed gifted Felioid that loved to play with the others her age- from a snare trap that had caught her left back paw. She got away but I was hit instead by whatever weapon they were armed with. I was promptly sold to the Jade Cube, a high-end brothel that catered to the wealthy Neutrals of Cybertrons' elite. I was ten human years old at the time; I think I spent the next five human years as 'Crimson Streak', one of the Jade Cube's best seller," The sarcasm when he said 'best seller' was sharp enough to slice a servo, "I had lost all hope for a better life when I met _him_."

Windblade looked at the scarlet mech, "Who did you meet?"

Sideswipe smiled at the others and this smile was both beautiful and spark breaking, "Starburst."

The confused look on the other's faceplates would be hilarious if this was a different situation, "Yes; when I first met him, he bought me for the night and-,"

"Wait! Bought?!: Optimus asked, horror in his voice.

This wasn't the Cybertron he had died for.

Not at all.

"Yes, pay attention," Sideswipe said, "He had bought me for the night and my spirit was at the lowest it has ever been. I didn't even fight and I spread my legs all too willingly," Sideswipe laughed softly, it was nothing like his usual abrasive laugh, "He took my legs and closed them, holding my ankles with one servo and my knee joints with another; he looked at me like I was drunk off High Grade and asked as much. I asked him if he was going to do business with me and Starburst just smiled and said no," Sideswipe shook his helm, "That was when I found out that he was not an elite Neutral but an member of the special victim's unit of the Elite Guard. I agreed to become his informant and he bought me every night for the next six months."  
"That simple?" Slipstream asked.

Sideswipe smiled at the Minicon with a soft smile, "Yes, that simple."

Sideswipe took an intake to sooth his poor nerves and he quickly forged on before he decided it would be a good idea to quit, "That slice of happiness ended when the Council gave him a task."

"What task?" Jetstorm asked softly.

Sideswipe took a shuddering intake, "They had asked him to locate some off-world Cybertronian artefacts and he took his half-brother Sabrehorn with him. He came back with coolant in the corners of his optics and I had asked him what was wrong; when he told me what the Council had asked him to do, I begged for one night between us and he gave it to me."

"A night between you two?" Windblade asked with a slightly teasing tone.

Sideswipe's faceplates flushed, "Shut up."

"Just saying," Windblade said. Sideswipe puffed his cheeks at her, causing the team to chuckle.

"Anyway," He started, "Something happened that night-and I am not talking about the interfacing- and I ended up pregnant. I didn't know I was pregnant until I got sick all over one of my handlers. They sent me to Sunwolf, a Lupioid medic that the brothel employed but what they don't know was that Sunwolf was a double agent that worked for the Elite Guard. Once he realized I was Carrying, he sent me through a trap door and told me to run to Altihex. I don't know what happened to him but he's the reason I'm free today."

Sideswipe waited for somebot to say something but he continued when no bot said anything, leaning forward to rest his elbow joints on his knee joints, "I travelled to the Altihex Center for Carrier's Care just like Sunwolf had told me too and it was there that I met a mech that would be my support."

Optimus looked at the slender scarlet mech, "Who was this mech?"

Sideswipe looked at the Prime with serious French Blue optics, "Knockout."


	7. Chapter 7

Optimus stared at the lithe scarlet mech with wide cerulean optics, "Knockout? The ex-Decepticon medic?"

Sideswipe just nodded.

The others looked at the two with a confused expression on their faceplates but Optimus looked concerned and surprised.

Sideswipe's faceplates were the picture of relaxed.

"How did Knockout end up Carrying? I thought his Spark-Mate Breakdown was offed by M.E.C.H?" Optimus asked, his surprise clear in his voice.

Sideswipe nodded, "Breakdown was killed but they had a contingency plan just in case some happened. The last thing Breakdown did was entrust Knockout with a piece of his Spark," Everyone gasped softly, entrusting a piece of a Spark to somebot was the epitome of trust, "Knockout knew that the Council would take Breakdown's spark so he hid it in a sub-space compartment near his spark-chamber and waited. The Council lost track of him in Tyger Pax where he was helping out and Knockout was quick to impregnate himself and fled to Altihex were he stayed at the exact same Center that I stumbled into four human months later."

Optimus looked like he wanted to ask a question but Sideswipe answered him, "Knockout delivered two healthy sparklings, a mechling named Breakout and a femmeling named Knockdown."

Optimus looked like he was torn between relieved and confused but he said nothing.

"I remember watching Knockout nurse his sparklings and all I could think was that there was no there was no way that Knockout was an ex-Decepticon; I felt like that Knockout was just created into the wrong faction," Sideswipe gave a gentle laugh and shook his helm, "I've lost count of how many times that I've listened to him singing a lullaby to his sparklings when they were fussy and I would wake up an hour or so later to him rocking their crib with one foot and reading data pads. That bot was a natural parent."

His French Blue optics softened, "I remember holding his servo as he went through ten joors of labour and I remember thinking that if a war-hardened medic could be reduced to tears then how could I even dream of surviving labour?" Sideswipe gave another laugh, "Another thing that I lost count of while I was at the center was the number of times he whacked me in the back of the helm for that. I've also lost count of the times that he rubbed the back of my neck afterwards and I never even bothered to keep track of how many times I cried in his arms. I don't know if all my outbursts were because of my hormones or because I felt like the situation was unfair," He took a shuddering breath and leaned forward, resting his helm back into his servo's, "I never thought that I would be a single parent; I always thought that I would have a spark-mate to help me out. I don't even know if Starburst is still alive but I know that Sabrehorn was imprisoned on a ship. I only know this because his name appeared on the news for attempted artefact destruction or something. Knockout was a big help during the whole fiasco; he wiped my tears, soothed me when my emotions went wild and made sure that I ate. He was just there when I needed it. He was just there."

Slipstream slowly started to rub Sideswipes servo's, "Take your time," He soothed.

Sideswipe took a shuddering breath of air, "I remember helping him with the two when I went into labour. It took us by surprise because I wasn't due for another week but we really didn't have a choice in the matter," He gave a soft, shaky chuckle, " I barely remember any of it but Knockout told me that I went through roughly nineteen joors of labour," Everybot stared at Sideswipe with wide optics, silently marvelling at how strong he must if he went through nineteen _joors_ of labour, "I only remember the very end when Daybreaker came into the world," The smile on his face was bright and loving, "She was the most beautiful femme that I ever met, violet eyes that were a perfect mix of Starbursts and mine and she was the tiniest thing that I ever held. I was in love the second I saw her."  
Windblade smiled at the soft smile that graced his faceplates but she had a question, "What happened?"

Sideswipe faceplates became somber, "Knockout and I were going to take our kids and get off Cybertron as quickly as we can. We got jobs on the _CERF Calisto_ , Knockout was a medic and I got a job in security. Self-defense was offered at the Center and I took to it like a turbo-duck to water. I only took a few classes but the teacher was a kind but stern femme named Arcee that wanted to give down on their luck bots a second chance," Optimus jolted when Sideswipe mentioned Arcee but he held his tongue, "We were ready to go when the Council struck," He gave a soft but sarcastic scoff, "I bet they hated losing their best bot. They sent a 'old friend' to bring me back, he came through the window in the nursery and I had just put Knockdown and Breakout in their crib when this happened. I knew that I had to defend them for Knockout. Knockout pointed a gun at the mech but he struck before he could pull the trigger."

Sideswipe started to shiver and Jetstorm was ready to put a stop to this talk but Sideswipe just kept going, French blue optics glazing and looking into the distance, " The fight that ensued knocked me out but the bastard took my daughter from me," Sideswipe attention shifted from the ceiling to his servo's, "I didn't know what to do with myself; I spent days in the med bay staring into space, praying to Primus that I was just dreaming. I got so bad that they had to hook me up to a IV so I could stay alive; I just wanted to join the Allspark and see them again. It was Arcee that turned out to be my saving grace," He gave a soft huff and looked Optimus in the optics, "She tossed my aft out of the bed and dragged me to her house in Kaon. Apparently, her, Bulkhead, and Smokescreen were sharing a place while they got their lives back together; her with the Scout Corps, Bulkhead with the new Wreakers and Smokescreen with the Elite Guard. Arcee whipped my aft into shape when I started to lash out in grief," He smiled softly, "While Arcee became my physical support, Smokescreen became the mech that held me whenever I burst into tears. He was often the one that forced me to eat, tying my aft to the table and force-feeding me if I was in an uncooperative mood. I think I spent a one human year with them when Smokescreen found out that a Microcon named Will-o-Wisp knew where my daughter was. I took off to hunt him down," He gave a sad, thoughtful smile, "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to the lot of buggers," A glowing blue coolant tear fell down his faceplates, "I raced to Iacon and spent three weeks hunting the glitch down. I finally found him in front the statutes of the Primes and I chased him around the area. I was forced to do donuts in front of Optimus's statue to prevent the glitch from bolting when Bumblebee and Strongarm arrived and arrested me for vandalism and the rest is history."  
Optimus snorted, "Is that why you hid from me the first time you met me?"

"Yep."

Soft chuckles filled the room for a minute. They tapered off when Optimus smiled softly at the bots in this room. He stood and walked over to Sideswipe, frowning when the slender mech flinched but ignoring it in favour of wrapping the mech in a hug.

Sideswipe felt his optics widen, he didn't know what to do in this situation.

Optimus's hugs felt nothing like Starburst's, Knockout's, or Smokescreen's.

Starburst's made Sideswipe feel like he was walking on air and dancing in the clouds, light and loving and full of promises of a better future that Sideswipe still clung to.

Knockout's felt like warm blankets and were loving but in a different way than Starburst; Sideswipe considered Knockout the closest thing to a Carrier and Creator in one sleek maroon package.

Smokescreen's were soft and caring but full of power. It held the promise of finding Daybreaker and stopping the Council once and for all.

Optimus's though… it was full of love, hope, sadness, and gentle power. It was as if the very land had come to life and had wrapped itself around Sideswipe.

"I'm so sorry Sideswipe," Optimus said softly and Sideswipe was shocked to hear sadness and regret in his voice, "This wasn't the Cybertron I died for. I'm so sorry," Sideswipe froze when he felt something cool down his backstrut.

He never thought that he would see this.

Optimus Prime- the greatest and last Prime that Cybertron has ever had- was _crying_.

He was crying for _Sideswipe_.

Sideswipe felt his own coolant tears gather in the corners of his optics and _he didn't care_.

Everybot watched as Sideswipe wrapped his arms around the great Prime and they were surprised and worried to note that both red mechs were _crying_.

No one had the heart to interrupt.


	8. Chapter 8

Jetstorm watched the sleeping trio on the berth as he fiddled with the screen displaying Sideswipe's reading.

The Minicon would be damned to the lowest parts of the Pits if he let Sideswipe get another fever from all the crying him and everyone else did.

He wouldn't be surprised if everyone got low-grade stress fevers.

Windblade and Drift volunteered for patrol once they had calmed down; no bot said anything but both bots were fighters and they were clearly out of their respective elements with all the crying Sideswipe had done in the last few days.

A soft murmur drew his attention back to the berth and Jetstorm smiled at the scene. Optimus was laying flat on the berth with Sideswipe curled up on his left and using Optimus's left arm as a teddy bear- with Slipstream sprawled out on the proud and paternal mech's chassis like a sparkling.

Jetstorm had just turned back to the screen when a low purr greeted his audials and he turned to see Windblade and Drift walking and flying back into the cavern, glancing at the pile of red, gold, and blue on the berth and gently padding by.

"How are they doing?" Windblade asked as they skittered around the berth.

"Optimus and Slipstream are tired from all the crying and Sideswipe is tired from being up; with him still recovering and what not," Jetstorm answered as he checked the screen, "I won't be surprised of Sideswipe or Optimus get low-grade stress fevers."

Windblade nodded and she turned to check for some more Energon to feed the hungry bots. Jetstorm looked over at Drift to notice that he looked like he wanted to murder some bot and if Jetstorm was a betting bot- which he was not… Slipstream was, though- he would bet that his normally calm master was plotting the demise of a few bots.

He had better keep an optic on him and Windblade from now on; Drift would most definitely convince Windblade to… assist him.

The result would not be pretty.

No matter how tempting it would be to ask if they would let him join in.

Now that he thought about it…

Optimus and Slipstream might join in on the plan too.

"Master…" He started slowly, hoping that the normally honourable mech wasn't really plotting the deaths of the most powerful bots on Cybertron. Drift turned towards his student and Jetstorm froze when he saw the crystal blue optics burn with a fire that frankly _scared_ Jetstorm.

It was an all-consuming fire that Jetstorm had seen in every optic of parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and godbots.

It was _pure parental fire_.

Jetstorm knew that everybot that had slighted Sideswipe in some way, shape, or form was _royally fragged_.

Those fiery crystal blue optics softened when they landed on Jetstorm, "Yes Jetstorm?"

"I think that we should spend a couple of more days here just in case anyone gets a stress fever from all the commotion of the last couple days. I don't want those to evolve into full-blown fevers on the road."

Drift looked comprehensive, "That sounds like a valid idea."

Jetstorm nodded then smirked at his master, "Does this decision have anything to do with the fact I am a medic by any chance?" He asked with some mirth in his vocals.

Drift shuddered slightly.

Jetstorm was not wrong.

He's been on his fair share of medical berths and only two bots scared the Pits out of him.

The Unmaker and medics.

Medics scared him more.

\\\\\\\\\

Slipstream slowly opened his optics and groaned; stretching out like a Felioid on the warm, comfortable, thing that he was sleeping on and rolled over.

In hindsight, rolling over was probably a bad idea.

Slipstream yelped as he fell off whatever he was recharging on and slammed belly first onto the floor with a groan of pain. He laid there for a few minutes and just let the pain wash over his chassis; groaning from the ache.

"Are you ok Slipstream?"

Slipstream turned his helm and looked into crystal blue optics that were filled with mostly concern and a dash of sleepiness.

He smiled softly at the concerned face, "I'm ok Optimus. I just landed on my chassis when I rolled off yours."  
Optimus didn't look convinced but Slipstream thought that the concerned and sleepy look the mech was giving him was too cute.

"I'm ok," He soothed, "Besides, you have a bot curled on your left side that doesn't seem to want to let you go."  
Optimus looked to his left then smiled softly. Sideswipe was curled on his right side facing Optimus; Slipstream was accurate, Sideswipe had his arm in a death grip. He chuckled and decided to get to work on getting the slender red mech to let his arm go.

Optimus learned the hard way that Sideswipe had a good grip.

An insanely good grip.

He worked his fingers under Sideswipes and tried to pry them off.

He had a damn good grip.

What did Bumblebee feed this bot?!

Hyped-up Energon?!

Slipstream giggled as he watched the slight struggle from the safety of the floor.

This was highly entertaining.

"Are you having trouble there, sir?"  
Optimus looked up from his fight with the sleeping mech to see a way too amused Windblade watching him flounder with the teenage mech.

"Do you need any help, sir?" She asked in amusement.

Optimus really hated the seeker femme right now.

"No Windblade, I have the situation under control," He replied grumpily as he wrestled with Sideswipe's servos.

He heard pedes coming towards him and he groaned; more bots to watch him fight with a sleeping Sideswipe.

Optimus heard a couple of soft chuckles but they thankfully said nothing and for that, he was happy.

"Need help?"

Scratch that, he was no longer happy.

But he really needed the help, Prime pride be damned.

"Yes," He grumped. He was not happy with this situation Sideswipe had unknowingly got them both into. He felt a pair of servo's reach over to help pry Sideswipe off but Optimus was quick to note that they were also having trouble with the teen's fingers.

Jetstorm watched the fight with mirth in his cyan blue optics and reached over to shake Sideswipe; startling the slag out of the bots in the area, "Sideswipe, it's time to get up and eat."

Sideswipe groaned and batted at Jetstorm's general direction, "Five more minutes Knockout."

Slipstream giggled and Sideswipe swung again in the direction of the giggling, "Did the cafeteria serve Energon goodies again? I'm going to kill Windshear if they did, you know you're not allowed them Knockout," He complained drowsily as his hand hit Optimus's chassis weakly. The hand stopped, wandered for a second and Sideswipe looked up at Optimus sleepily, "Slag…," He slurred, much to every bots amusement, "You're not Knockout."

"Nope," Optimus said in amusement as Sideswipe slowly got his bearings again and he chuckled when Sideswipe's faceplates flushed at the realization that he was sharing a berth with Optimus Prime himself.

"Hi…" Sideswipe said slowly as he let the mech he had been cuddling with go. Everybot laughed softly and Jetstorm resisted the urge to facepalm and quickly walked back to the screen that displayed vitals and what not.

That urge has come up way too much the last few days.

"Hello yourself," Optimus said back as he watched Sideswipe pull away.

Sideswipe moved away only to hit the wall and he yelped at the contact, "Um sir, can you let me out?"

Optimus gave a rumbling laugh but tried to climb out of the berth by himself.

Emphasis on _tried_.

Slipstream scrambled out of the way as Optimus's pede slipped on something and the normally graceful mech was sent flying, limbs flailing out as he skidded backward and landed right on Sideswipe.

The resulting squeal of pain sent Drift running over with his sword out.

Windblade and Slipstream were laughing as Jetstorm ran back over with the first aid kit and yelled at Optimus, "Dammit, you big buffoon! Get off Sideswipe! Physics is not on his side here! Get off!"

Optimus was quick to scramble off Sideswipe and then started to apologize when Sideswipe let out a groan, "I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so, sorry!"

Sideswipe waved the poor mech off as Jetstorm checked him out, "It's fine, I've been sat on by Bulkhead before."

Optimus raised an optic line, "Really?"

"Yea, Smokescreen told him too after I decided to go on a hunger strike the first couple of solar cycles at their place. I spent a few breems there before I gave in and ate something. Smokescreen grinned like a loon for joors and Arcee laughed for just as long if not more."

Optimus gave a slight chuckle, "That sounds like my team."

Jetstorm scowled at Optimus who quickly saw the deadly glare and scampered away to the safety of behind Drift.

Drift was less likely to get a wrench thrown in his direction.

Sideswipe noted the way that Windblade and Optimus acted around Slipstream and Jetstorm and he turned to Drift, "What the Pit happened to cause that kind of reaction?"

"My students tend to startle the two in the most creative ways," Drift said with amusement in his voice.

Sideswipe lost it.

Optimus and Windblade glared at the slender mech as he started to laugh hysterically, "Oh my Primus! HAHAHAHAHA-" He hiccupped at that point, his giggling getting the better of him, "Holy slag! HAHAHAHAHA!"  
Windblade looked like she was going to kill him and Optimus Prime wasn't far off.

Everybot knew that they wouldn't do a fracking thing.

They were just happy that Sideswipe was laughing.


End file.
